My First Blogspot post

Well hello everyone! I am creating this "blog" mostly as a quick and easy way to let my family and friends back home know what is going on with me when I go to Jerusalem this summer. Needless to say I am very excited. First of all, I must give credit for this idea to Rachel Mildenstein, who very kindly let me read hers when she found out that I was going to Jerusalem, so Thank You Rachel! (And yes, dear parents, the large font is for you :) Look how considerate I am!!! I love you!)

It has been a dream of mine for quite some time now to make a trek to the Holy Land... and finally my opportunity is here. I can't believe that I am actually getting to go. Ok, well, so... it's not completely set in stone yet, I have to pass my interview first and everything, but I simply cannot wait.

I applied for the spring term, hoping that I would get in then, and received a very gracious, albeit heartbreaking, letter of rejection, stating that they had received 160 applications and only 80 people were allowed to go. Since selection is done completely randomly, that gave me a 50% chance to go (you do the math...just kidding, I did it for you). So with that mild heartbreak came a new resolve that even if I didn't get accepted for summer term either, I was going to apply for fall semester... a very big decision for me since that would mean I would be gone for November 2008, a very significant time since Elder Killen will be returning from his mission to El Salvador. Part of me thinks that Heavenly Father wanted to see if I really was dedicated enough to the idea of going to Jerusalem before he just let me in. Another reason that I wasn't too upset about not getting to go to Jerusalem for spring is that I get to go see my Grandpa Campbell and Grandma Norah in early June! (Again, I'm pretty sure that had something to do with divine intervention). Had I gone for Spring term, I would have missed the trip my dad has planned to New York and Canada to see them, so that worked out well. Another wonderful blessing that came out of me going to Jerusalem in the summer is that our Lake Powell dates changed, and so now I will get to go to lake Powell with my family just a few days after I get back from Jerusalem! Everything is just working out, haha. Wow... I am going to have a busy summer.

Getting my "acceptance" letter is quite an interesting story... and for the sake of not wanting to forget it, I think I will record it electronically now. (It's already in my journal, but those things can so easily be... burned in a fire... or lost... or get water damage... or become prey to a nephew who recently learned the usefulness of scissors).

So apparently when I applied for Spring Term and got rejected, the Jerusalem Center Office sent me my deposit back. I remember getting a check in the mail for $150 but I didn't know what it was for, I think I figured that my dad had just accidentally paid too much tuition or something. Good thing I had that blonde moment, because if I had realized that they were sending me my deposit back, I wouldn't have called them to see where my packet was when it didn't arrive the day it was supposed to.

So my friend Josh got his packet on March 3rd (the day we were supposed to) and called me to inform me that he was on the waiting list. I raced home to see what my lovely packet contained and quite invariably ended up cursing the mailman, because my packet hadn't come yet. The next day I must have made at least 10 trips to the mailbox between the time period of 11-2:30. When my mail came at 2:30 (I almost tackled the mailman) I was again seriously disappointed, and now somewhat worried, that my packet still hadn't arrived. About an hour later, I resolved to call the Jerusalem Center Office. I talked to Debbie Petersen and explained my situation to her, and she asked me to hold so she could find out what was going on. She then returned and informed me that they didn't have my application (WHAT?) and asked if she could call me back. Yes, of course that was fine with me for her to call me back as long as she found my application!!! (the words in Italics represent my thoughts... I would never have said such things to her, and besides I was feeling almost too devastated to think).

It was at this point (hanging up the phone) that I had a minor melt-down. Obviously if they didn't have my application, then I wasn't even considered for a spot on the Summer Term program. A few minutes later, Debbie called me back and asked me if I remembered receiving a check in the mail... at that point it hit me like a ton of bricks. With intolerable dejection I told her that I had, the concept still weighing on me like 1,000 lbs of potatoes (and I hate potatoes) I guess it could be 1000 lbs of anything... anyways back to the story... She then continued to explain to me that my name had been on two lists, the rejection list for Spring and the acceptance list for Summer... not quite sure whether to rejoice or feel cheated at this point, I encouraged her to continue. She told me that since my name had been on the rejection list for spring, they had sent my deposit back, which had knocked my name off the list of people to send packets to for the summer, even though my name held a spot for that program. Now feeling thoroughly hopeful, I asked her what this meant. She told me that as long as I could pay back my original $150 deposit, the spot was mine and I could get the glorious little acceptance packet. (My description of the packet, not hers). Overjoyed, I told her I would come to her office and pay it right then... and I did.

I drove as fast as I could and ran to room 301 of the Harmon Building, met the wonderful Debbie Petersen and received my beautiful acceptance packet. A woman who shared the elevator with me going back to the main floor of the Harmon building asked me if I was going to Jerusalem. I told her (almost giggling and eyes filling with tears) that I was. She then said "I could tell. You are positively glowing!" At that point I was beyond words. When we got off the elevator and I started walking back to my car, the tears were flowing freely and I was laughing with joy. Anyone who saw me would've thought I was going insane, haha. I've known for quite some time now that I'm supposed to go to Jerusalem... and it felt like all of a sudden, all of my dreams were coming true. Hence my Jerusalem Adventures begin.